How are you going with your Ordinary Hero reading? As you might’ve guessed, I dropped the ball a bit around Celebration Sunday but have had a number of recent conversations in which people have expressed their appreciation for The Ordinary Hero and that’s inspired me to post another reflection – this time on chapter 10: “Bondage Followed by Liberation” .
This is the second chapter in Part 3 of the book – “The Pattern of the Cross & Resurrection – suffering followed by glory”. in this chapter Tim describes the resurrection of Jesus as a beginning and a promise of things to come, as the basis for Christian HOPE. But the fact that we need hope is a reminder that we are still surrounded by a fallen and decaying world and that we ourselves are, at least physically, fallen and decaying too. Life in this world bears the mark of the cross more than it bears the mark of the resurrection.
This perspective helps us to have realistic expectations of what this life will be like and of the extent to which we can make it better. It will help us to receive the good things of life as blessings from God that we don’t deserve rather than being discontent and obsessed with what we don’t have. It will help us to love others practically and diligently in this life while at the same time acknowledging that Jesus is the only true redeemer and we wait for the fullness of our redemption. It helps us to remember that “it’s only Friday”, but that “Sunday’s comin!”
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